It was a normal sunday for everyone but it changed the lives of 4 medical students forever

It was a normal sunday for everyone but it changed the lives of 4 medical students forever.

We are posted in the medicine department for this month. One of the doctors called us today to attend the icu and emergency.

We went to the hospital at 5pm. First, we went to the ICU. We asked the doctor to show us the history and ecg of the patients with Myocardial infarction. He opened the file of a patient in bed number 9. He explained the signs and symptoms and taught us the pecularities of ecg of MI patients. When he was explaining the treatment, the patient started to have convulsions. We were panicked. But the doctor immediately started giving cardiac massage and nurse injected in a few drugs. Convulsions stopped. He measured his bp. He was hypertensive. Ecg was done again. It showed recurrent Myocardial infarction. The doctor explained the relatives, they need to do an angiography soon, and accordingly angioplasty or bypass had to be done. But, the main problem was money! Everything would cost around 1 lakh rupees. But poor people are given MAA card, and with that card they can get all the treatment for free. The patient was 75 year old. He didn't have a card. And his family was extremely poor. They all were extremely worried about the expenses. The procedure had to be done within a few days. And it was difficult for them to arrange this amount of money. And if money couldn't be arranged, the patient will not survive long.

There was this another lady who was suffering from carcinoma of lungs. It was last stage. She didn't have enough money to get a treatment from any fancy cancer hospital. Thus, she was there all alone in an icu bed of a civil hospital waiting for her death.

One thing we realised is the importance of money. We say, that money can't buy everything in this world. But here, money is the deciding factor for life and death. If they could arrange the money, patient's life would be saved otherwise noone can save him from death.

For most of us, 1 lakh rupees is just amount with which we can buy a scooty or an iphone or a laptop. But for some, this amount can decide their life or death! Money is extremely important and though money can't buy you everything, but it can surely buy all the necessary things.

Thank you

-Thirak Vaishnav  (Pursuing MBBS)